Snow Day
by ArcherUmi
Summary: Edelgard von Arundel sees snow for the first time.


**Author's Note: **I had this idea out of the blue while listening to wintery music and I just had to write it. Spoilers for the Blue Lions route up to the end of part one.

* * *

Dimitri stirred, rubbing his eyes as he sat up and glanced around the room. A faint flame was still visible over the embers from last night in the fireplace, but Edelgard was nowhere to be seen, the sheets and blankets next to his empty and rumpled.

It wasn't so often that he had the chance to see her, and when Volkhard had offered him and his father the guest rooms at his villa outside Fhirdiad in lieu of them making the trip back to the castle late at night, Dimitri had insisted he wanted to keep playing with Edelgard. When Lambert had finally put his foot down and told him it was time to sleep, he now insisted, despite his embarrassment and Edelgard's initially annoyed response, that he would rather sleep on the floor in her room than in a guest room.

His father and Volkhard had finally relented, but only on the condition that the two of them instead sleep in this parlor, after which Edelgard, who had refrained from weighing in to back up either his insistence that she wanted to sleep together too or her uncle's that she did not, begrudgingly agreed to it. Before they both nodded off they had spent the time quietly talking, Edelgard mainly complaining about how cold Faerghus was time of year.

He stood up and stretched his arms, not bothering to fold up his sheets either. It was quite early this Sunday morning, although late enough that the sun was already out, and it seemed like he and Edelgard were the only people awake in the house. It didn't take much wandering before he saw where she had gone. Still in her pajamas, she was standing by a window, looking awe-struck as she pressed her face up against it.

"...El?". She turned to look at him. "Oh, it's you. Good morning, Dimitri."

"Is something wrong outside El? What's going on?".

She looked a little embarrassed. "No, it's nothing."

Dimitri glanced outside. Overnight, the world outside had been covered in a blanket of snow. It seemed quite deep, as hard as it was to judge just by peering at it from inside, and still falling lightly. Could she...?

"Uh... Umm... Could it be you've never seen snow before El?".

"I said it's nothing, Dimitri! Hmph!". She turned away from him in a huff. "But...", her expression softened and she stole a glance out the window again. "In Enbarr it's quite warm. Even in the winter it only rains, most of the time. I saw it once or twice but-", she searched for how to describe it. "-just a tiny bit. Like a bit of sugar on a cake. So... I've heard of it, but this is the first time I've seen it like this."

"I see... Hey-". Dimitri paused and she looked at him again. "-Do you want to go out and play?".

"Oh, I couldn't. Uncle worries. He gets upset sometimes when I go outside without asking him first."

"Come on, El... No one else is up, and maybe we can come back in before they do get up! Don't you want to?".

"I do want to, yes, but...". Dimitri's eyes face lit up as she answered.

"Ok, go put on something warm!". Dimitri hurried back to the parlor to find his clothes from yesterday.

"Sshh, Dimitri! If we're sneaking out then-", she tried to warn him, but he didn't listen as he ran off. She sighed, sneaking up the stairs to her bedroom. After changing into warm clothes and rummaging for the new coat Volkhard had bought for her in Arianrhod when they first arrived in Faerghus, she descended the stairs again quietly and, satisfied that no one had heard her, walked to the foyer.

As soon as he saw her, Dimitri went to open the door, but she shushed him again. Tiptoeing closer, she slipped her boots on and slowly opened the door herself, careful to make as little noise as possible. She shivered as the cold air hit and wordlessly ushered Dimitri through before exiting herself, closing the door behind them.

The awe-struck look from before returned to Edelgard's face as they stepped out from under the portico and their boots sank into the deep snow, her eyes and mouth going wide. She looked up at the sky before holding her hands out, then looked down again and watched the snowflakes fall on her mittens, before pulling one off and kneeling on the ground, grabbing a handful of snow and flinching at how cold it felt on her skin. She quickly let it fall through her fingers and slipped the mitten back on.

She dashed through the snow into the middle of the lawn and turned around, looking back at the villa. Its roof was covered as well, as were the trees around the house. She tried to twirl around, but the depth made it difficult and she tripped, screaming as she fell and landing softly in the snow.

"El, El, are you alright?", Dimitri asked, looking down at her with a concerned look on his face.

"...Yeah, I'm fine". She watched as Dimitri's face brightened up again and, smiling, he let himself fall backwards into the snow himself. Getting up, she saw him sweep his arms and legs back and forth, making the form of an angel in the snow, and couldn't help but laugh.

Dimitri stopped, sitting up in the impression he'd made, and started giggling as well. "You try too!", he said through his laughter.

"Alright, alright". She took a deep breath and, copying him, fell backwards and swept her arms, before standing up again to survey her work.

"Hey, hey, do you want to see something else El?", he asked. She looked away from her snow angel to see Dimitri forming a ball out of snow in his hands. "Sure!", she replied. He grinned, raising his hand while still holding the snowball. "Ok! Catch!".

He threw it and Edelgard's eyes went wide as it flew towards her face at high speed. Reflexively she raised her hands in front of her face just before it slammed in to her and fell apart. She lowered her hands, glaring at Dimitri. "Hey! Don't throw it so hard! Dummy!".

"But I tried to throw it slow!", he protested. "I just can't help it. My stupid Crest...".

"Alright, I'll get you back then! It's _on_!", she shouted at him, grinning with a glint in her eyes as she grabbed a handful of snow herself and rolled it into a ball, tossing it as hard as he could. It hit him square in the chest and made him stumble back a step. "El! Come on, it's not fair if you _try_ to throw it like that!".

She pointed her finger at him across the snow-covered lawn. "I hereby declare war on you, Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd! In war you just play to win no matter what!".

Dimitri burst out laughing. "Ok, then I'll play to win too!". The two of them began tossing a flurry of snowballs at each other, most of them missing as they ran around, attempting to snipe each other from behind trees and giggling all the way.

"Edelgard! Edelgard!". Standing in front of the portico, she froze, arm in mid-swing just as she was about to let yet another snowball fly, upon hearing her uncle's voice inside the house. She gulped, slowly turning her head, and saw him standing in the front door.

"...Uncle, I-", she started. "-...Oh, it's all Dimitri's fault! It was his idea!".

"You wanted to too El!", Dimitri yelled, throwing the snowball in his own hands and frowning as Edelgard deftly dodged it.

"You said we'd be back inside before anyone woke up!", she fired back, tossing her snowball at him.

"...Yeah, but you were having too much fun to go inside too, weren't you?!".

Volkhard sighed. "El, you'll miss breakfast", he began, exasperated. "You must be starving by now with how energetic you seem to have been this morning. Come now, I'm not going to scold you just for playing on the lawn. I've put on a pot of the bergamot you like too."

"Hmph, fine", she said, finally giving in and walking towards the house. Dimitri followed behind, and she looked over her shoulder, smiling at him from the portico. "Thanks, Dimitri. For showing me how to play in snow, I mean."

"Oh, it's not really anything special like that, but you're welcome". She rolled her eyes. "Just take the compliment, ok? I mean...-", she twiddled her fingers. "-I just like playing with you, so...".

Dimitri smiled warmly. "Mhm! I like playing with you too... You know...-", he paused, and Edelgard waited for him to finish. "Even if you have to go back home someday... Let's promise to still be friends. Ok, El?".

Edelgard nodded.

"I promise, Dimitri."


End file.
